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Up-to broadband and Openreach data - nothing for NDLAN?

Openreach have been busy. The vans have gathered in swarms and buzzed around the NDLAN exchange in Langton Green, and pulled, pushed, stretched, flushed, drilled and moled the ducting to many cabinets around the parish. However, you could be forgiven for thinking this if you checked the Openreach site for the date when you can "get it".

Accuracy - a chilly 2 out of 10
According to Openreach spreadsheets (HERE), NDLAN (Langton Green) is neither available, coming soon, planned or under evaluation. Look at the bottom of that page, where it says "Download the exchange rollout lists". However, should you provide your postcode in their web page checker (on the same page), then it is "Coming soon". Sigh - ah well.

With this level of accuracy, repeated at other locations elsewhere in the country, you have to wonder about the customer service that will follow. Any ISP reselling the Openreach backhaul will be subject to this. Rural copper will become the talking point, as will the number of available VDSL ports (faster connections) in each cabinet. If they all get used, Openreach aren't likely to upgrade anything without more BDUK money, as they themselves have stated that our area is "not commercially viable" in order to get the BDUK money. As the price of FTTC broadband remains reassuringly high, after committing for 18 months, adding on line rental tax, and paying for BT sport content (ugh - that gets my goat), I imagine the capacity may be less of a problem.

DCMS asking the REAL Question - but will they listen this time?
Of course, the DCIS consultation that the government is running right now, to look at what our broadband capability fill need to be in 10-15 years time has received little or no fanfare. Perhaps due to the necessity to point out the mistake that the current £1.2b spend with BT/Openreach is, on technology that will not reach really rural folk now, and especially in 5-10 years time. We will have precisely the same problem all over again. Broken Telephone has covered this HERE.

If you do nothing else today, after completing the Gatwick "point merge" consultation document, PLEASE complete this survey to tell the government to extract their heads from the sand and listen to the independent industry experts who say FTTC is a waste of money, and to start rolling out fibre as if they meant it, without having a monopoly owning it!

I have had a statement from the project manager inside KCC, that the NDLAN Exchange Only lines will be available for VDSL ("Superfast", cough) by the end of March. Work is underway currently, finishing off the PCP (wiring cabinet) and DSLAM (the broadband bit, for "n" fast lines - "n" known only to BT).

What happens when all of these lines are taken? Who knows ... maybe BT will ask BDUK and KCC for more money? They may also have to pay some of their BDUK money back, if the takeup is above their very conservative estimates. We won't be allowed to know any of this detail however, which is not particularly community centric. Communication is one of the biggest problems with the whole BDUK project.